LCC downs El Camino on last-second shot

REGION — La Costa Canyon senior point guard Alec Peneschi’s deep three with four seconds left on Monday night gave the Mavericks a stunning 50-48 win over visiting El Camino in a critical match in Coast News Classic pool play.

El Camino led for much of the game before ceding the lead in the fourth quarter, when Peneschi and fellow senior Logan Wazny reeled off a 5-2 run to capture a 44-43 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks led 47-45 in the waning moments of the game before Wildcats junior guard Jalen Flanagan hit a 25-foot three pointer to take a 48-47 lead with 1:11 left in the game.

Flanagan scored a game-high 20 points.

After a couple of turnovers and missed shots, La Costa Canyon sophomore Graham Cook passed it to Peneschi who fired the game winner from the right wing with four seconds left.

Peneschi, who moved to California from Colorado last year, missed an earlier shot to tie the game. But he said he felt confident when he let the game winner go.

“I was shooting pretty bad early in the game, and I actually had a chance to tie the game before that and missed,” Peneschi said. “And so I just stayed positive and said, ‘The next one’s in, you know I got it.’ And when Graham gave me the ball I knew it was going in and it did.”

El Camino opened the game on an 11-2 run before taking a 15-11 lead into the second quarter. Led by Flanagan and 6-foot-6 Logan Cremonesi, who chipped in 13 points and 8 rebounds, the Wildcats took a 37-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

But the Wildcats struggled to contain the Mavericks shooters in the second half, as Wazny hit four threes and Peneschi chipped in two from distance, including the winner.

Wazny and Cook each scored 12 points to go along with Peneschi’s team-high 15 points.

LCC’s win sets up a critical game Wednesday versus Santa Fe Christian, which essentially serves as a semifinal matchup with the winner advancing to the championship game of The Classic Saturday against the winner of Mission Hills and Temecula Valley.